“The fury of a demon instantly possessed me,” (2005) the narrator explains directly before he details how he proceeding to stab his favorite cat in the eye. The reader is to understand from the retelling that this is a natural reaction. The purpose of telling this entire twisted and disturbing story of “The Black Cat” is help unburden the author of his guilt and to reveal “very natural causes and effects” (2005). Natural to whom? Likely someone who is exhibiting classic symptoms of borderline personality disorder.
Very early a reader is made aware that there is something is not quite right with the person who is telling the story. He explains himself as if he was a rabbit in a world of wolves. He is a target of others due to his sensitive …show more content…
As a result, their interests and values can change rapidly.” (NIH, 2016) Where the definition becomes more to relevant to the character is when he injures his beloved cat, Pluto. One would expect that his loyalty to his cat would be undying, yet in an instant he changes his values and inflicts upon his favorite pet irreparable harm. Reading this horrible act, the reader would expect the narrator, after explaining he could barely be apart from his favorite pet, to feel immense guilt. All the narrator could express initially was mild embarrassment. The narrator cannot explain the inexplicable. Only someone with compromised mental health could being to understand that he had a serious lack of empathy for any living creature, let alone his most treasured companion. Ironically, he himself reveals himself to be much like that of a wild animal. “Borderline personality disorder” is defined as within Dictionary.com as “a mental condition on the dividing line between a psychiatric disorder and normality characterized by impulsiveness, extreme mood swings, and often aggressiveness” (2012). Throughout “The Black Cat” the narrator exhibits mood swings and extreme aggression. Explaining his compulsion “to do what is wrong for the wrong’s sake only” his violence escalates to ending Pluto’s life horribly
Very early a reader is made aware that there is something is not quite right with the person who is telling the story. He explains himself as if he was a rabbit in a world of wolves. He is a target of others due to his sensitive …show more content…
As a result, their interests and values can change rapidly.” (NIH, 2016) Where the definition becomes more to relevant to the character is when he injures his beloved cat, Pluto. One would expect that his loyalty to his cat would be undying, yet in an instant he changes his values and inflicts upon his favorite pet irreparable harm. Reading this horrible act, the reader would expect the narrator, after explaining he could barely be apart from his favorite pet, to feel immense guilt. All the narrator could express initially was mild embarrassment. The narrator cannot explain the inexplicable. Only someone with compromised mental health could being to understand that he had a serious lack of empathy for any living creature, let alone his most treasured companion. Ironically, he himself reveals himself to be much like that of a wild animal. “Borderline personality disorder” is defined as within Dictionary.com as “a mental condition on the dividing line between a psychiatric disorder and normality characterized by impulsiveness, extreme mood swings, and often aggressiveness” (2012). Throughout “The Black Cat” the narrator exhibits mood swings and extreme aggression. Explaining his compulsion “to do what is wrong for the wrong’s sake only” his violence escalates to ending Pluto’s life horribly